Once in the Black Sea, Porter and her crew participated in the 20th annual Sea Breeze joint US-Ukrainian exercise, a multinational initiative that brought together air , land and sea forces from Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States.
This year's exercise involved more than 400 U.S. service members and eight countries, focusing on various conflict areas, including maritime ban operations, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, damage control, and search and rescue operations.
The vessel entered the Black Sea on 19 July to improve interoperability with NATO Allies and allies to demonstrate mutual commitment to Black Sea stability when participating in the Sea Breeze 20 exercise. This visit marks Porter 's third area Black Sea patrol in five months.
U.S. Navy regularly works in the Black Sea in compliance with international law, including the Montreux Convention.
Porter is performing naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet Region in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.
Maritime Business World